Ocala CRA meeting set Wednesday night

Published: Monday, September 23, 2013 at 5:12 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, September 23, 2013 at 5:12 p.m.

The public is invited to stop by Wednesday evening to see some conceptual drawings of what changes could be made in both east and west Ocala to spruce up various sites along the entrance roadways to the city by removing blight and encouraging investment.

The city of Ocala is developing Community Redevelopment Area plans for removing slum and blight for two new CRAs and would like the public’s input. The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), the old downtown library site, at 15 SE Osceola Ave., on the south side of East Silver Springs Boulevard.

“They (attendees) will be able to view and make comments about the public infrastructure improvements we envision for those areas,” said Astrida Trupovnieks, the city’s senior redevelopment manager.

For instance, there will be drawings of improvements to the intersection of Interstate 75 and State Road 40, which is one of the sites the City Council and members of the Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) advisory committees have discussed as needing improvement.

There also will be renderings of the intersections of SR 40 and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Another would be at SR 40 and Pine Avenue.

“That would serve as both an entrance to the downtown coming from the west and an entrance into west Ocala coming from the east,” Trupovnieks said.

There also will be a rendering of the intersection of SR 40 and the Ocala Shopping Center, and another near the former Albertson’s supermarket.

Besides SR 40, there will be a rendering of the gateway at U.S. 441/301 (Pine Avenue) and Northwest 20th Street, which is the northern limit of the CRA.

“It’s very blighted,” Trupovnieks said. “We would like to attract some quality private investment at that gateway location.”

The city has invited property owners and licensed business operators along the corridors to attend the meeting but all are encouraged to stop in.

Trupovnieks said showing people what could happen along SR 40 could also be applied to other gateways to the city, such as U.S. 27.

“They are not definite plans, but they are representative of right-of-way improvements possible on these corridors,” Trupovnieks said. “We are going to show some interesting pavement treatment. We are going to show some interesting crosswalks. We are going to show some interesting landscape and the wayfinding signage.”

The City Council has approved the two new CRAs: the East Ocala Redevelopment Area and the West Ocala Redevelopment Area. By approving a CRA designation, a portion of the tax dollars collected within each of those areas can be set aside and used specifically for upgrades in those areas in hopes of attracting more private investment to revitalize the area.

A formal plan has to be developed for each CRA, and the ideas being presented Wednesday and the public’s input could possibly be incorporated into those plans.

The CRAs’ boundaries are jagged but, roughly, the West Ocala Redevelopment Area is bounded by Northwest 28th Place to the north, Northwest Fourth Avenue on the east, Southwest 37th Street to the south and Interstate 75 to the west. The East Ocala Redevelopment Area is bounded by Northeast 29th Street to the north, Northeast 39th Avenue to the east, Fort King Street to the south and Pine Avenue (U.S. 441/301) to the west.

The boundaries include both sides of the right-of-way. The areas’ general focus is along the city’s gateway corridors.

The city has one other CRA, an older one that includes the downtown and North Magnolia Avenue areas. That CRA already has an approved plan.

<p>The public is invited to stop by Wednesday evening to see some conceptual drawings of what changes could be made in both east and west Ocala to spruce up various sites along the entrance roadways to the city by removing blight and encouraging investment.</p><p>The city of Ocala is developing Community Redevelopment Area plans for removing slum and blight for two new CRAs and would like the public's input. The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), the old downtown library site, at 15 SE Osceola Ave., on the south side of East Silver Springs Boulevard.</p><p>“They (attendees) will be able to view and make comments about the public infrastructure improvements we envision for those areas,” said Astrida Trupovnieks, the city's senior redevelopment manager.</p><p>For instance, there will be drawings of improvements to the intersection of Interstate 75 and State Road 40, which is one of the sites the City Council and members of the Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) advisory committees have discussed as needing improvement.</p><p>There also will be renderings of the intersections of SR 40 and Martin Luther King Boulevard.</p><p>Another would be at SR 40 and Pine Avenue.</p><p>“That would serve as both an entrance to the downtown coming from the west and an entrance into west Ocala coming from the east,” Trupovnieks said.</p><p>There also will be a rendering of the intersection of SR 40 and the Ocala Shopping Center, and another near the former Albertson's supermarket.</p><p>Besides SR 40, there will be a rendering of the gateway at U.S. 441/301 (Pine Avenue) and Northwest 20th Street, which is the northern limit of the CRA.</p><p>“It's very blighted,” Trupovnieks said. “We would like to attract some quality private investment at that gateway location.”</p><p>The city has invited property owners and licensed business operators along the corridors to attend the meeting but all are encouraged to stop in.</p><p>Trupovnieks said showing people what could happen along SR 40 could also be applied to other gateways to the city, such as U.S. 27.</p><p>“They are not definite plans, but they are representative of right-of-way improvements possible on these corridors,” Trupovnieks said. “We are going to show some interesting pavement treatment. We are going to show some interesting crosswalks. We are going to show some interesting landscape and the wayfinding signage.”</p><p>The City Council has approved the two new CRAs: the East Ocala Redevelopment Area and the West Ocala Redevelopment Area. By approving a CRA designation, a portion of the tax dollars collected within each of those areas can be set aside and used specifically for upgrades in those areas in hopes of attracting more private investment to revitalize the area.</p><p>A formal plan has to be developed for each CRA, and the ideas being presented Wednesday and the public's input could possibly be incorporated into those plans.</p><p>The CRAs' boundaries are jagged but, roughly, the West Ocala Redevelopment Area is bounded by Northwest 28th Place to the north, Northwest Fourth Avenue on the east, Southwest 37th Street to the south and Interstate 75 to the west. The East Ocala Redevelopment Area is bounded by Northeast 29th Street to the north, Northeast 39th Avenue to the east, Fort King Street to the south and Pine Avenue (U.S. 441/301) to the west.</p><p>The boundaries include both sides of the right-of-way. The areas' general focus is along the city's gateway corridors.</p><p>The city has one other CRA, an older one that includes the downtown and North Magnolia Avenue areas. That CRA already has an approved plan.</p>